Carrier for flanged articles



&pt. 15, m J. WOOD CARRIER FOR FLANGED ARTICLES Filed Oct. 51, 1968 i I1 2mm flay: I SVW www m Q Q INVENTOR PRENTICE J. WOOD ATTORNEY v UnitedStates Patent US. Cl. 29487.2 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acarrier for gripping an article having a flange comprises a tubularstructure having top, intermediate, bottom and side walls. At least onepair of opposed tab structures is struck from the top and intermediatewalls to define article receiving apertures, a third aperture beingformed in the bottom wall in aligned relationship with the apertures inthe top and intermediate walls. The tab structures struck from theintermediate wall cooperate with the tab structures struck from the topwall to form article gripping and supporting means for engaging thearticle underneath its flange, the flange constituting the cap of abottle or the chime of a can or the like.

This invention is an improvement over US. Pat. 3,387,879 issued June 11,1968 on application Ser. No. 636,471 and is directed primarily tostrengthening the carrier of the above-mentioned patent by incorporatingan intermediate panel together with article supporting tab structuresstruck therefrom which supplement the gripping and supporting action oftabs formed in the top panel according to the above patent. In addition,by this invention, the side walls of the carrierafe appropriatelyreinforced and therefore strengthened and a side panel is arranged so asto depend from one of the side walls and to engage the shoulders of thepackaged items.

According to this invention an elongated tubular structure having top,intermediate, bottom and side walls is provided with aligned aperturesto receive and grip an end flange of an item to be packaged. Opposedsupport tab structures are struck from the top wall and similar supporttab structures are struck from the intermediate wall, the tab structuresstruck from each of these walls being folded upwardly to define agripping means which is disposed about the entire periphery of thepackaged item. Of course the openings defined by the tab structures arein aligned relationship as is a third aperture formed in the bottompanel. Reinforcing panels are disposed in flat face contactingrelationship with the side walls and a side panel for advertising ordisplay purposes depends from the lower edge of one side wall andengages the items to be packaged.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blankconstructed according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofa set-up carrier formed from the blank depicted in FIG. 1 and whichshows the cooperation between an article packaged in the carrier and thecooperating portions of the carrier; FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentarycross-sectional view taken along the line designated 33 in FIG. 2; andin which FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the linedesignated 4-4 in FIG. 2.

In the drawings, the top panel of the carrier is generally designated bythe numeral 1 and extends between side edges 2 and 3. A medial fold line4 is formed within the top panel 1. Side wall 5 is foldably joined totop panel 1 along fold line 3 and side wall extension 6 is foldablyjoined to the bottom edge of side wall 5 along fold line 7.

Foldably joined along fold line 2 to the top panel 1 3,528,97 PatentedSept. 15, 1970 ice is side wall 8. Bottom panel 9 is foldably joined tothe bottom edge 10 of side Wall 8 and a reinforcing panel 11 is foldablyjoined along fold line 12 to a side edge of bottom panel 9. Intermediatepanel 13 is foldably joined along fold line 14 to the upper edge ofreinforcing panel 11 and reinforcing panel 15 is foldably joined alongfold line 16 to a side edge of intermediate panel 13.

As is apparent from FIG. 2 the blank is formed into an elongated tubularstructure wherein the various panels are arranged so that reinforcingpanels 11 and 15 are secured in flat face contacting relation to sidewalls 5 and 8 respectively. Of course this arrangement enhances thestrength and serviceability of the carrier particularly for use inconjunction with relatively heavy articles which are packaged in thecarrier such as bottles B, the bottles being provided With capsdesignated C.

For the purpose of gripping the bottles B underneath the peripheraledges of their caps C, tab structure is provided according to thisinvention. These tab structures are struck from top panel 1 and fromintermediate panel 13 and are configured and disposed so as to form inthese panels aligned apertures for receiving the necks of the packagedbottles. For example in top wall 1 a pair of support tabs 17 and 18 arefoldably joined along fold lines 19 and 20 to top wall 1 and thesesupport tabs are interconnected with each other along fold line 21.Support tabs 17 and 18 are hereinafter sometimes referred to as asupport tab structure. The tabs 17 and 18 are disposed in opposedalignment with tabs 25 and 26 and in general alignment with the lengthof top wall 1. In like fashion the support tabs 25 and 26 are foldablyjoined to top Wall 1 along fold lines 27 and 28 respectively and areinterconnected along fold line 29. The edges 30 and 31 of tabs 25 and 26are disposed opposite to the edges 22 and 23 of tabs 17 and 18. Theseopposed edges constitute gripping means for engaging the bottleunderneath its cap and define aperture 24.

Alos formed in top wall 1 is another pair of tab structures whichcomprise elements having the same designating numerals as are used todesignate the structures associated with aperture 24 and such elementsdefine the aperture designated generally by the numeral 32.

It is obvious that these tab structures when folded upwardly constitutebottle gripping means.

In order to strengthen the tab structures struck from top wall 1 and togenerally enhance the strength and gripping action of the carrier,intermediate panel 13 is added according to this invention and articlegripping tab structures 33 and 34 are struck from intermediate wall 13.These tab structures are foldably joined to reinforcing panels 15 and 11along the fold lines 16 and 14 as is obvious from FIG. 1.

Tab structures 33 and 34 are similar to tab structures formed from tabs17 and 18. Tab structure 33 is formed with a pair of diagonal slitsdesignated by the numerals 35 and 36 and with a transverse slit 37.Similarly tab 34 is provided with a pair of diagonal slits 38 and 39 andwith a transverse slit 40. The two portions of tab structure 33 whichare disposed on opposite sides of transverse slit 37 may be regarded astabs although principally these tabs are not fully separated by theflexing slit 37 at least for a portion of their length. In similarfashion the portions of tab structure 34 on opposite sides of slit 40may be regarded as individual tabs. Tab structures 33 and 34 form a pairof apertures generally designated by the numerals 41 and 42.

The bottom panel 9 is provided with a third set of bottle receivingapertures generally designated by the numerals 43 and 44.

With the blank of FIG. 1 assembled as depicted in FIG. 2 the tabstructures 33 and 34, being longer than the tab structures associatedwith the top panel, extend into and through the openings into theapertures 24 and 32 and their upper edges 45 and 46 are disposed inapproximately the same plane as the edges 22 and 23 of tabs 17 and 18and 30 and 31 of tabs 25 and 26. Thus as is obvious from FIG. 2,gripping means is provided according to the invention which extend aboutthe entire periphery of the apertures formed in top panel 1.Furthermore, it is obvious from FIG. 2 that the edges of tab structures33 and 34 are disposed inside the tabs 17, 18, 25 and 26 in overlappingrelationship. Of course the diagonal flexing slits 35 and 36 formed intab structure 33 and the diagonal flexing slits 38 and 39 formed in tabstructure 34 materially facilitate the formation of the arcuateconfiguration of these tab structures as is depicted for example in FIG.2.

Reinforcement of the carrier along its sides is also provided accordingto this invention by virtue of the fact that the reinforcing panels 11and 15 are secured in flat face contacting relationship to the sidewalls and 8 respectively.

From the description above it is apparent that the carrier of thisinvention is sturdy and durable and that it affords a secure andpositive bottle gripping action which is particularly well suited forlarge heavy bottles or other flanged items to be packaged.

While the arrangement described above and shown in the drawings is thepreferred embodiment, it is apparent that the bottom wall could beeliminated if desired, and the carrier could comprise a top Wall havingtab structure and a lower wall spaced therebelow in which tab structureis formed in alignment with the top wall tab structure.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A carrier for an elongated flanged article comprising an elongatedtubular structure having foldably joined top, bottom, intermediate andside walls, a pair of opposed support tab structures struck from saidintermediate and top walls and respectively forming aligned aperturestherein, a third aperture formed in said bottom wall and aligned withthe apertures in said top and intermediate walls, said pair of supporttab structures being angularly displaced from each other about thecommon axis of their associated apertures and having their side edgesdisposed with respect to each other so as to form when folded upwardly asubstantially continuous article support means adjacent the aperture insaid top wall.

2. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein said support tab structuresare of such lengths and orientation that the end edges of all saidstructures are disposed in approximately the same horizontal plane whenfolded upwardly and into their article engaging and supportingpositions.

3. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein the support tab structures insaid top wall each comprises a pair of tabs aligned with each other inoppositely disposed relation and wherein each tab structure is disposedin general alignment with said top wall and wherein the support tabstructures in said intermediate wall are disposed in angularly displacedrelation relative to the tab structures in said top wall.

4. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein each tab structure comprises apair of support tabs having juxtaposed side edges.

5. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein the fold lines between the topwall and the support tabs of each tab structure struck from said topwall are disposed in divergent relation to each other in the directionof the associated aperture.

6. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein at least one flexing slit isformed in each support tab struck from said intermediate wall tofacilitate snug envelopment of the associated article.

7. A carrier according to claim 6 wherein said flexing slits arearranged in diagonal relationship to their associated support tabs.

8. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein a reinforcing panel is securedto each of said side walls in flat face contacting relation and in theregions thereof between said intermediate and said bottom walls.

9. A carrier according to claim 8 wherein each of said supportstructures struck from said intermediate wall is foldably joined to adifferent one of said reinforcing panels.

10. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein an extension panel isfoldably joined to the bottom edge of at least one of said side wallsand normally disposed at an angle to the plane of said one side wall themagnitude of which is dependent upon the configuration of the associatedarticle.

11. A generally rectangular blank for an article carrier comprising afirst side wall, a top wall foldably joined to said first side wallalong an edge thereof, at least one pair of opposed support tabstructures struck from said top wall and foldably joined thereto todefine at least one article receiving aperture, a second side Wallfoldably joined to said top wall along an edge thereof remote from saidfirst side wall; a bottom wall foldably joined to said second side wallalong an edge thereof remote from said top wall, at least one articlereceiving aperture formed in said bottom wall, a first reinforcing panelfoldably joined to said bottom wall along an edge thereof remote fromsaid second side wall, an intermediate wall foldably joined to saidfirst reinforcing panel along an edge thereof remote from said bottomwall, a second reinforcing panel foldably joined to said intermediatewall along an edge thereof remote from said first reinforcing panel, andat least one pair of opposed support tab structures struck from saidintermediate wall and foldably joined respectively to the edges of saidfirst and second reinforcing panels which are foldably joined to saidintermediate wall.

12. A carrier for an elongated flanged article comprising an elongatedtubular structure having a top wall, a lower wall spaced therebelow, apair of opposed support tab structures struck from said top and lowerwalls and respectively forming aligned apertures therein said pair ofsupport tab structures being angularly displaced from each other aboutthe common axis of their associated apertures and having their sideedges disposed with respect to each other so as to form when foldedupwardly a substantially continuous article support means adjacent theaperture in said top wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1958 Toensmeier 29487.2 2/ 1965Rice.

U.S. c1. X.R. 206-65; 224-452

